Seeking Advice

Sometimes we gravitate towards people who “tickle our ears”. These people know how to butter us up and give us answers they know we want to hear. Seeking counsel from ungodly people leads us down a very slippery slope.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3

There is a progression of permanence in the beginning of these verses.

WALK ? STAND ? SIT.

One may start out with occasionally seeking out the counsel of the wicked, but eventually he will be in a permanent spot of seating with the mockers, those who openly show contempt for Gods law. Mockers do not occasionally stumble, they simply despise Gods law.

— Does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.- the least permanent of the three —

Guard yourself. If you don’t seek advise from ungodly people it will be less likely for your to end up “sitting in the seat of mockers.” There are ways to make sure you do not start walking down the path towards wickedness.

Ask yourself some basic questions before receiving advice from an individual.

Are they wise counsel or wicked counsel?

Do the people I am seeking advice from back it up with the Bible?

Are my counselors producing Godly fruit in their own lives?

Years ago, someone once told me to not seek advice from someone if I didn’t want a ticket to where they were going. That really stuck with me.

Seek out people who have fruit pouring out of their lives, who speak real truth that is backed biblically. Remember, God knows his people by name, but we know them by their character.

The meaning of Blessed in this verse translates to, OH THE HAPPINESS! It is an exclamatory word.  OH THE HAPPINESS is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord (the Bible), and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

This verses have two parts. Not only are we to avoid the ways of destruction, but we are to DELIGHT in the law of the Lord. Delighting in the scriptures is demonstrated by meditating on them. Meditating on the bible means bringing Gods word with you everywhere, all day long. Dwelling on his scripture should not shut off once your devotion time is over. We should be thinking about His Word at all times. His law should be the subject our thoughts naturally drift to; His law should be our minds natural resting place.

The last section of these verses say:

The more we delight in Gods presence the more fruitful we are. The image here is a tree planted with its roots in an abundance of water. Jesus is our living water. The more we are plugged into him and dwelling of the word of God, the more fruitful our lives will be. Having leaves that do not wither, refers to happiness that is not short lived and transitory. It is permanent and continual.

God has great things in store for his children. He wants us to be fruitful. He wants us to be blessed with an abundance of happiness. He wants this so badly for us that he gives us an exact equation to follow in order to achieve these results. Are you are unhappy? Do you not see the fruit in your life that you are wanting? Ask yourself who you are acquainting yourself with. Seek wise counsel, delight in Gods laws, and be obedient.

By Kristi Rodriguez

1 Comment

Yari
on January 7, 2017 at 1:22 am

Kristi this word is so powerful. Thank you sister, I will take to heart your encouragement & share with others. It is wise counsel & I am going to ask the Holy Spirit for help, so when others come to me for advice I can encourage them with the word of God.